Story Factory

17/07/2026

13/07/2026

Author visit from Debra Oswald 📚✨

One of the most exciting moments in our Year of the Novella program is when professional authors visit our students! Last week we were honoured to host the amazing Debra Oswald - novelist, screenwriter and playwright - at our Parramatta centre. Debra's visit was perfectly timed - she shared advice about the editing process and her trips and tricks for making it in the writing industry as students were copy editing the second drafts of their books.

👀 Stay tuned for the official book launch in December!

08/07/2026

Flirting by Mitch, Year 5 🫶

07/07/2026

Embers of my Mind was written by Nai, a high school student in our Voices of Country program ✨

This program is in collaboration with Murama and Indigenise, and is supported through a City of Parramatta Council Community Grant.

07/07/2026

Lacey, Year 10, wrote this piece during our Yarn Ya program at our Bidwill centre.

Yarn Ya was created by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, offering young people a cultural exploration of Indigenous identity through creative writing. We will publish the students’ work in a book later this year, and we're already excited to see what they produce in Term 3!

✨Yarn Ya is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services.

06/07/2026

Happy NAIDOC Week! At Story Factory we're celebrating the voices and writing of the incredible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people we work with.

This piece is by Wumatjan, a student from our Voices of Country project in collaboration with Murama and Indigenise. During three writing workshops, 25 young people in Parramatta have been exploring their culture through creating stories and artworks, supported by local Elders and First Nations facilitators.

👀 Stay tuned for the launch of the published book, film and cultural installation along the Wangal Walk later this year!

✨This project has been supported through a City of Parramatta Council Community Grant.

18/06/2026

Can you help us extend our impact and reach with young people in Mount Druitt? There is still time to make a tax-deductible donation before June 30!

We've been privileged to work at schools in Mount Druitt for almost a decade, and now our new centre in Bidwill will fill an identified gap in services for young people. Our free programs will build their confidence, writing skills and literacy - all vital for success in school and later life.

But we need your help to make this possible. With your support, we can extend our impact and reach in this area and transform the lives of hundreds of local young people.

DONATE NOW: https://www.storyfactory.org.au/donate/

📸 Photo by Natasha Capstick.

17/06/2026

Did you visit our Plant-A-Poem stall at Sydney Writers' Festival?

Plant-A-Poem was manned by talented young writers from our Year of Poetry program, armed with poems they had written in their weekly workshops. They asked festival-goers about their hopes and dreams for the year ahead, and carefully paired them with a poem that best honoured these hopes.

Visitors walked away with a personalised poem, seeds and instructions - to plant at home and watch their hopes bloom!

Read the poems and find out more about the day: https://www.storyfactory.org.au/inside-story-factorys-plant-a-poem-stall-at-sydney-writers-festival/

📸 Photo by Natasha Capstick.

15/06/2026

TEACHERS, are you looking for fun, interactive activities for your class for the last couple of weeks of the term?

Story Factory Digital has you covered with free creative writing workshops delivered to your classroom via zoom!

We work with schools with an ICSEA of less than 1000. If this is your school, BOOK NOW: https://www.storyfactorydigital.org.au/book-now

05/06/2026

We were proud to be a part of the 29th anniversary of the Reconciliation Walk and Gathering at Dawson Mall in Mount Druitt.

We joined community members to walk together and recognise the importance of reconciliation. We also hosted a stall at the gathering, connecting with the community and sharing information about our programs and our work with young people.